Climategate 2: Hacked emails released

Update: Transparency and openness appear to be the leitmotiv for climate scientists embroiled in Climategate.

One of the climate scientists affected by the email releases has spoken out today. Phil Jones of the University of East Anglia has been repeatedly hassled over claims that he deleted emails relating to freedom of information requests from climate sceptics. This morning, he again admitted deleting many emails, but said – as he has said many times before – that this was part of routine clear-outs of his inbox.

Jones attended a press conference in London prepared to explain all the email excerpts that were released in a "read me" file yesterday (see below), and place them in their original context. He said they related to "frank and honest discussions between scientists".

The University of East Anglia's vice-chancellor, Edward Acton, said that the university had become much more open since 2009, when "our knuckles were collectively rapped" over its policy towards freedom of information requests. He echoed the general sentiment that the release of a second batch of emails had most likely been timed to cause disruption in the lead up to the climate change negotiations in Durban, South Africa, next week.

Several dozen excerpts have been gathered into a single "read me" file, and are being widely circulated by climate sceptic bloggers.

An initial examination by New Scientist found that the content of the emails is similar to the 2009 release, and features climate scientists debating the merits of different studies and discussing the text to be used in major reports.

Michael Mann of Penn State University in University Park, the author of the original "hockey stick" graph showing a steep rise in global temperatures over the last century, also features, as do a host of other top climate scientists.

Confuse the public

Mann called the new batch of emails "truly pathetic" and said they reflect desperation among climate deniers, who have failed to pick holes in the science. "They have instead turned to smear, innuendo, criminal hacking of websites, and leaking out-of-context snippets of personal emails in their effort to try to confuse the public about the science and thereby forestall any action to combat this critical threat."

Regarding the content of the emails, he said: "I hardly see anything damning at all, despite these snippets all being taken out of context. I guess they had very little left to work with, having culled, in the first round, the emails that could most easily be taken out of context to try to make me look bad."

In a statement, the University of East Anglia said: "This appears to be a carefully timed attempt to reignite controversy over the science behind climate change when that science has been vindicated by three separate independent inquiries and number of studies – including, most recently, the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature group."

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